Chance Encounter
by The Anonymous Agent
Summary: A Pokemon Emerald Randomizer Nuzlocke play through, written in novel form. Unique storyline, yadayadayada, all that jazz.
1. Chapter 1

Hey guys, I'm back, and with a new story. Technically, this is a novelized playthrough of Pokemon Emerald, but I have added several unique elements to the storyline. These include the Nuzlocke reality, and the randomizer code, which scrambles the wild pokemon code in the grass, so you never know what comes up every battle.

For anything about Nuzlocke, go look that up on google, it'll tell you all you need to know.

For those of you that are reading this because of my Harry Potter stuff, don't worry, I'm planning on getting a How to Share a Mind update out a week at most after this gets posted.

For you, this could be a new experience, for me, it's a writing exercise while I play me some Pokemanz, for both of us, it's sure to be lots of fun.

One last thing, if anyone is willing to make this into a comic for me, I'll post links to wherever that is posted and give them credit. I would do it myself, but I can't draw crap to save my life and I don't want to use the rage faces, as that is waay too overdone for Nuzlockes.

-JOURNEY BEGIN!-

It was just another ordinary day for me, stuck here in Littleroot Town. I had been living here for about a year now, and it is as empty as ever. The only comfort I have is May, the girl next door. We've been friends since I moved here, and she's always been a good friend, no matter what happens between us. As I went out north of the small town, I saw something I never expected to see: May's Dad, Professor Birch, being attacked by a Poochenya.

"Quick! In my bag! There's a Pokeball!" I heard him yell. I saw a brown satchel a few feet away from me, and, upon opening it, a saw a single pokeball.  
"GO POKEMON!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. I had no idea what I was doing, I had never owned a pokemon before, despite my dad being a renowned Gym Leader. Out of the pokeball came a Pokemon, it was large, yellow, and oddly catlike, save for the tail that reminded me somewhat of a Squirtle's. "NOW WHAT?" I yelled at the professor, who was climbing a small tree, trying to get out of the way of the crazed pokemon.  
"RAIKOU! USE BITE!" Birch yelled. The pokemon lunged for the smaller one, snapping it's head clean off within its jaws. (Rule 1: If a Pokemon faints, it is dead and can no longer be used.)  
"A Raikou?" I asked. I had never heard of such a beast before, it must be exceedingly rare, but then again, it couldn't be all that rare if Birch left it out in the grass where anyone could pick it up.  
"Yes, a Raikou. It is commonly believed to be a myth, but few know that it exists. It is extremely powerful, but I have never seen one personally before."  
"Wait, what? It was in your bag! What do you mean you've never seen one before?"  
"So it's true… It's really happening. I thought it was just a rumor, a myth… it can't be, can it? Raikou, return!" Birch said, whispering most of what he had just said. But when he threw the pokeball at Raikou, it did not go in. Rather, it flicked its tail at it and the ball went sailing back to the professor, smacking him on the back of the head. "Ouch. That kinda hurt."  
"Here, let me try." I said as I took the pokeball from him and threw it wordlessly at the pokemon. He bowed just before disappearing into a thin red line, and back into its capsule.  
"Marvelous. You know, Brendan, I'd like you to keep it, since I think you'll need some protection in the times to come."  
"What do you mean?" I asked, unsure of what he meant.  
"I mean this morning, the pokemon in that pokeball was a Torchic, and now it is a Raikou. Legend has it that every millennia, Pokemon transform into a different form, seemingly at random, and they become more and more violent before settling down. No one knows how long it lasts, or if it is permanent, but we can only wait and see what will become of it."  
"When you say violent, you mean…"  
"Deadly. Last time this supposedly happened, civilization all around Hoenn was nearly wiped out. I only hope we can see the end of it better than previous. Oh no… Brendan, May is on Route 103, just north of here. Find her, make sure she's alright. I've got to get back to Littleroot."

So… is something really happening? Is this for real? Or is it April first, and I was caught unawares? No… the look on Birch's face was… too real, like he was really worried about what would happen. Either way, I had to get to May, if this was real, we could keep each other safe. If not, I could get some answers out of her. I ran north, encountering Pokemon I had never before seen on this trail. Foretress smaller than your average Pineco, miniature Gyarados barely bigger than the doll I had in my room back home.

Something is legitimately going on here. There was no way that Birch could have engineered those Pokemon, they were tiny, tenfold smaller than they should be.

"Oh no… MAY!" I yelled. I saw her lying on the ground, hand clutched at her side, blood seeping out of her fingers. I heard what could only be a battle cry behind me and saw a Farfetch'd charge at me, clutching a bloody stick in one hand. "GO ZEUS!" I yelled, throwing my Pokeball at the ground in front of me.

"WEAKEN IT! DON'T KILL IT!" I told my Raikou as I searched for something to seal up May's wound with. Eventually, I remembered my green bandana I wore around my forehead, and used that to seal up the gash somewhat. After I stopped some of the bleeding, I turned around to see Zeus pinning the Farfetch'd to the ground. I rummaged through May's bag for something I had spotted earlier. "I'll pay you back, I promise." I took out a new pokeball from her bag and aimed it at the bird's head. (Rule 2: Only catch the first pokemon encountered on each route.) I picked up the pokeball from where it had landed at Zeus' feet and returned him to his home as well.

"Come on, let's get you to Odale, we can take care of you there." I started by carrying her, but when that got too hard, I summoned Zeus to carry us the rest of the way there. On the way, I decided to name the Farfetch'd I caught Apollo; I won't tell May it's the same one that attacked her, but I'm sure she'll figure it out. She's a smart girl.

"I NEED HELP HERE!" I yelled as the automatic doors to the Odale Pokemon Center opened up and I came staggering in with May in tow.  
"What happened?" A nurse asked me.  
"She was attacked by a wild Farfetch'd. Don't ask how it got here, I don't know yet myself."  
"Alright, let's get her onto a stretcher." Upon viewing the red bandanna at her side and the trail of blood she left in her wake, the attendant said "And let's hurry."  
We got her onto one and she wheeled her off into a back room, calling for help the whole way there. I was too nervous to sit down, so I went out back and washed most of the blood off of Zeus' back and, after healing Apollo, started training him as best I could. It turned out to be much easier to get him to like me than I expected. Before long, I got him to follow me around outside of his pokeball without going berserk on anything too often. I saw the same nurse that took May into the back room come out just as I got Apollo to stop beating a painting of an Ekans with his stick.

"How did it go?" I asked.  
"She'll live. She suffered major blood loss and two cracked ribs."  
"Damn Apollo, what did you do?" I asked. When he shook his head, the nurse seemed surprised.  
"Wait… you… caught the same pokemon that did that to your friend?"  
"It was the only way to stop him, and he's not all that bad now, now aren't you?" One squawk later, the nurse continued.  
"She's unconscious for now, but she won't be out for long. I never got a name from either of you, she's…"  
"May. May Birch. And I'm Brendan."  
"Nice to meet you. I've got to be going now. See you around."  
"Sounds good." I said as I walked out of the Center to go home… only there wasn't a home to go to.

Littleroot town was in shambles. There was hardly a building was left standing. The only thing that was standing, however, was an extremely large Pokemon. It was at least twice as tall as the trees that nearly circled the town. It was red, it had an extremely large tail that had white spikes coming out of it. It's arms extended into extremely large hands with claws that would rival the ones on its tail.

Completely on his own, Zeus broke out of his pokeball and ran towards the behemoth pokemon, and one flash of blue light later and the red one was gone, replaced by a small blue object that looked very similar to a pokeball. I picked it up, deciding to keep it. I looked around, remembering my surroundings. I looked to where my home had once been. It was only a pile of rubble now.

"MOM!" I yelled. She usually hung out in the living room while dad was at the Gym in Petalburg. I dug around in what used to be the living room, until finally I found her. "MOM! No, please don't be dead… please…"

She wasn't moving, and I couldn't shake her awake. I checked her pulse. Nothing. She wasn't with me anymore. Mom was gone… And there was nothing I could do about it. Actually… there was something. I could at least revenge her death. I'll hunt down the red behemoth and kill it myself. It's the least I could do to honor her memory. I couldn't allow myself to cry… I wouldn't. Not when I had such a task ahead of me. I had to be strong. For Mom, for May, and for myself. I couldn't grow weak. There was no more room for that now.

"Such a shame… I'm sorry I couldn't save her. I really am." A voice said from behind me. It was Professor Birch.  
"Professor! I… it's okay, you couldn't have done much anyways. What about Miss Gracia, and little Elysia? Are they alright?"  
"I'm afraid not. As far as I can tell, we're the only survivors of the Groudon. I really should have claimed ownership of that Treecko. It's my fault. I let this happen."  
"No. It's not. There was no way you could have predicted that. And I'll be damned if I let that pokemon get away with what it did to our families."  
"No, Brendan, you can't. It's too dangerous. Groudon is the pokemon of legend that created the landmasses. There's no fighting something that powerful."  
"Well I can't just sit here on my ass and do nothing! I've got to do something! I can… we can warn the rest of Hoenn! You said this has happened before, and if this time will be worse than last, we'll need all the help we can get. What about Professor Oak? What about Lance? Surely they know some powerful people. We can get assistance. Hoenn must survive."  
"Wise words, boy. But I'm afraid it might already be too late. Groudon will stop at nothing to destroy Kyogre, now that it has been released upon the world again. Even if you could get to Jhoto…"  
"Well damn it I have to try! And if you're going to mope about it, then you'd best get out of my way. I've got a world to save." I said as I pushed past him and back north. I had to get to Odale before him, to convince May that we have to do something about this Spirit Shift.

As I walked away, I turned around to see Birch sink to his knees and hid his face in his hands.

Back at the Odale Hospital and Pokemon Center, May was sitting down at a table munching on a sandwich and some fried oran berries. I sat down across from her.

"May…" I said, getting depressed already about what I was about to tell her." Listen… Something's happened back home. No one's left save your dad."  
"What…? Tell me you're not serious? Mom… Elysia, they can't be…"  
"I'm sorry May, my mom went out too. I've got nowhere else to go, Dad's going to be a wreck for a while, I don't even want to let him know until he comes back. I'm going to Rustboro. If anyone knows anything about Legendary Pokemon, it'll be a gym leader. Roxanne will be willing to help. I just need her to get me in touch with a Hoenn Loremaster. Then I'll know all about this Groudon that destroyed Littleroot, and I'll be able to destroy it."  
"Brendan… Do you even know what you're saying? You want to destroy Groudon! Are you insane? It'll kill you before you could even touch it… Please, don't."  
What would you have me do then? I've already explained this to your old man, he wasn't happy about it either, but it's what I've got to do. You can try to stop me if you want, but I've made up my mind."  
"Are you sure about this?" May asked.  
"Absolutely. I would offer you to come with me, but I know you'd refuse. I thought I'd give you a heads up. There's something big going on. Pokemon are becoming more savage, there spirits are shifting into forms found elsewhere. I don't know how long it'll last, but they will come, they'll want to make this their home. I suggest taking out the wild pokemon within Odale itself before they become too unstable."  
"Brendan… Please."  
"No, and it's not Brendan anymore, from now on, I'm Artemis, the hunter."  
As I walked out of the Pokemon Center, I heard her yell at me: "I'll find a way Brendan, I'll make you change your mind if it's the last thing I'll do."

-END—

So, how was it? Different? Tell me so, in the review box. There was a Fullmetal Alchemist reference in there somewhere. Cookies to whoever can find it.


	2. Chapter 2

Before I went out towards Petalburg, I would need to stock up on Pokeballs. I figured five would be enough, so I paid for the pack, removed the plastic wrappings and placed the shrunken balls into my bag. The journey there was uneventful, save battling three trainers who looked surprised when it was all I could do to make sure Zeus didn't kill them. After the first, I switched to Apollo. Zeus would be good against wild Pokemon more so than those that belong to someone.

On the way there, I ran into a Mr. Mime and tried to catch it. Zeus bit it into a state of near-death seemingly, but always had enough strength to break out of all five pokeballs I threw at it. After that, it ran off much to Zeus' dismay. Upon arriving in Petalburg, the one thing I wanted to do was avoid the gym, so I quickly ducked into a small shop near the entrance of town.

Within, I met up with a boy about my age, fifteen or sixteen, and reluctantly began chatting with him, as he became rather annoying.

"Yeah, so the gym leader Norman helped me catch my first pokemon today." He said.  
"Huh… that's cool, what was it?" I asked, not trying to give any indication of recognizing my father.  
"It's a Ralts. Oh no… Sorry, I'm late for dinner. Maybe I'll catch you later. You've got a name?" He asked.  
"Artemis."  
"I'm Wally. Here, I'll register you in my Pokenav. What's your number?" He asked. I gave him the combination and he ran out of the shop immediately afterwards. I'm not really sure why I gave it to him, though. After buying enough food to last until I got to Rustboro, I bought three potions and as many Pokeballs as I could afford, which ended up being thirteen. The nice old lady threw in a Premier Ball, saying it was a promotion they were doing all across Hoenn. I thanked her and left.

After healing up Zeus and Apollo, I continued westward out of the city, only to be stopped by a man in a tuxedo and sunglasses.

"Hello young man, I'm looking for strong trainers to compete in a tournament I'm hosting… no, never mind. You don't look all that experienced. I'm sorry to have taken up your time." He said and walked off.

"What the hell was that?" I asked myself. Shrugging it off, I continued on into Route 104, where I encountered an extremely small Milotic. I caught it with my Premier Ball and decided to call her Medusa. Not to insult the beauty of a Milotic, but it seemed fitting considering my current state. The route ended up being surprisingly empty. I found small patches of grass that could use a good lawn mower to the face, an old, empty hut that didn't even have a door on it. The monotony of travelling northward towards Petalburg Forest was a nice girl named Cindy. She eventually wanted to battle me with her pokemon she'd gotten recently. She sent out a Zigzagoon, which Apollo took down handily.

"Thanks, that was fun. Maybe some other time?" She asked.  
"Sounds great. Maybe when I come back here we can go see a movie or something." I said.  
"Sure." She said with a blush. And as I walked towards the forest she called after me: "I never got your name!"  
"Artemis!" I yelled back. I had left my identity of Brendan back with the shambles of my old life. I wasn't going back to it, not until Groudon had paid for its hand in my change of mind.

I proceeded into the forest where I saw a Rattata wanting to pick a fight with me, so I sent out Medusa to scare it off. It worked. It was dark here, but not too dark as to where I couldn't see. I could make out where trees were and when wild Pokemon appeared, but not much else. Eventually I came across a man looking very out of place with a brown tuxedo on asking if I had seen any Shroomish around. Seconds later he was on the ground with a man wearing a blue bandanna on his head on top of him.

"You just had to dawdle in the woods huh?" He asked with what I imagined he thought to be a sinister tone. It sounded more pitiful than anyting. "Give me those papers, and I'll send you on your way, huh? No questions asked."  
"Alright, just let me get up and I'll give them to you." The man in the suit said. I saw my opening. I dived at the blue-clad man, knocking him to the ground. After a short struggle over his lone pokeball, he managed to throw it away into the trees. Moments later a Poochenya came rushing out and looked about ready to kill if given the order. I sent out all three of my pokemon to take care of it just before I was put in a choke hold by my attacker. He was much stronger than me, most likely twice my age or more, but in any case I was unable to break free and lost consciousness.

When I awoke, Apollo was standing on my chest and the suit-clad man was leaning over me. I sat up slowly, letting my bird topple over, not really caring right now.

"What happened?" I asked groggily.  
"You passed out. I thought you were a goner for a minute there. Your Pokemon here saved you. He, well, I'm assuming it's a he, chased off that man with his stick."  
"Great. You OK?" I asked.  
"I'm just fine. I'm glad nothing was stolen from me. I owe you one for that there. Do you want me to pay you back at all?"  
"You can buy me lunch if you want, I haven't eaten since this morning."  
"Alright, I'll do just that. There's this new place that just opened down the road from the Gym, it's supposed to be great."  
"Sounds good.

I followed him into Rustboro and to the restaurant he mentioned earler. He told me how the Devon Corporation was working on an addition to the Pokenav that would allow people to have three-way or more calls. He was in charge of it, apparently, judging by the enthusiasm with which he talked. After we were done eating, he paid for our meal and we walked out. He said he had to get back to work while I wanted to go to the Pokemon Center to heal up Medusa after the fight with Team Aqua. Afterwards I planned to take on the Gym, but not for the badge, but for information on a Pokemon expert around these parts. I figured that being the mayor of the town, Roxanne would know who to talk to.

As I progressed to the Gym, I saw the guy from earlier chasing after another Team Aqua member, and I ran after them just to see what was up. There were several trainers along the way who I promised I would battle later, right now I needed to see what that guy got himself into this time. On the way there, I ran into a Delibird, whom I caught with the Great Ball I received earlier and named him Harpy. Eventually I made it to a small cave where an old man was sitting just outside the mouth.

I asked him what was wrong, and he replied that his Wingull, Peeko, had been kidnapped by the Team Aqua thug and dragged into the cave. The cave wasn't as dark as I thought it would be, crawling with Whismur, though. After several turns I came across the Aqua thug and the man from Devon.

"You again?" He yelled, somewhat scared. Even as comical as this scene looked; a man in a blue jumpsuit holding onto a Wingull with one hand while a man in a tuxedo tries to rip a package out of the other. I couldn't supress the laugh I wanted to give out, and he then summoned the Poochenya we battled against earler.  
"Me again! Go Medusa!" I yelled and ran after the two humans, trying to recover both items he had. After a bit of struggling, I managed to pull the package from his arms while the Devon man pried his other arm away from the Wingull. Both objects went flying towards the exit of the cave, along with his Poochenya. The man got up and started running away from the entrance I came into the cave from. The man from Devon picked up the package and tucked it under his shoulder. I grabbed the Wingull and followed him out of the cave.

"Thanks again." He said, "Say, I'd like you to come meet someone, I think he would have an interesting job for you."  
"No thanks, I'm a bit busy with something right now." I said. It was true, I needed to learn where Groudon normally lived so that I could find it again.  
"You sure? There could be big money involved."  
"Alright, you're a nice guy, I'll give it a listen."  
"Excellent," the man said. "Come on, Mr. Stone is waiting for me, I'll bring you along."

Mr. Stone is the president of the Devon Corporation, the company that produces the mobile multi-tool that most trainers carry around called the Pokenav. I've got one in my backpack, it was a gift from my mother last year. It was, come to think of it, the only thing I had left to remember her by. We reached the third floor of the Devon Offices and I waited outside the presidents office. After only a moment of waiting, I was called in to have a word with Mr. Stone.

"Say boy, from what I've heard you're quite the brave young man. I've got two things that need to be delivered across the ocean in Dewford and Slateport, and I'd like for you to deliver them. Of course, the job is not a walk in the park by any means, and so I'd like to give you proper payment."

He then pulled out a small chip and handed it to me. I knew what this was, it was a memory card for a Pokenav. I pulled mine out and placed the card inside the expansion slot. On the screen a number flashed before my eyes.

"So, what do you need me to do?"

-One healing break later…-

About time… I had been putting this off all day. I was finally able to go into the gym and battle Roxanne. I needed her to tell me where to go next. I was already going to Dewford and then Slateport, but I needed to know what to do in terms of my quest after that. Roxanne's Gym is made up of trainers who use mainly rock and ground types. Apollo and Zeus were obviously sitting this one out, but I have Medusa, I'll be just fine.

I walked into the gym to find four trainers battling with Geodudes against each other. After a moment, I cleared my throat to get their attention and I walked a few steps forward. Apparently the first two wanted a double battle, so I grabbed Zeus' pokeball and threw it up along with Medusa's. The battles themselves were easy, and I got to Roxanne relatively quickly.

"Hello challenger, how are you today? What's your name?" She asked in a sing-song voice.  
"I'm Artemis, an I'm feeling about as great as you look, thanks for asking." I replied. She blushed, but made a quick reply.  
"Hey now… Alright, you want my Gym badge? You'll have to fight for it. I won't go easy on you just because you're a flirt!" She cried as she threw an Ultra Ball into the air.  
"The badge is actually secondary to why I'm here, but I'll humor you." I said and took several steps back to avoid whatever was coming out of that. I threw Medusa's pokeball onto the ground and out she came, ready for battle.

The rules were three on three for this gym, which worked out perfectly because I was only really using three at the moment. Roxanne's first was a Geodude, which quickly went out to Medusa's water gun. Her second was another, which fell in a similar way. Her last was a nosepass, which had nocked my Milotic unconscious, so I had to use a potion while Zeus blocked attacks for a moment. Afterwards, the Nosepass was a piece of cake and I took it down easily.

"Alright, I win, now I've got a question to ask you."  
"Oh?" She said, handing me the badge in her handshake.  
"I'm looking for someone who knows a lot about Pokemon legends and history. Do you know of anybody around here that can help me out?"  
"Well, there is someone, but he's not in Rustboro. If you want me to tell you where to find him, I'll do it on two conditions."  
"What would those happen to be?" I asked, still very conscious of the very little space between us.  
"Kiss me." She said before doing just that. She closed the small gap between our faces by tugging on my collar, making me bend over slightly.  
"Alright…" I said, still unsure of what just happened, "Uhh… what was that? And what's your second condition?"  
"That was me seeing if the second condition was required. I like you Artemis, and it sounds like you're on an adventure. I want in."  
"That's it?" I asked.  
"That's what I want. I want to come along with you." She replied.  
"Alright then, welcome to the team."

-END—

So? How was it? It's been too long since I've sat down to write this. For those of you getting this from elsewhere, would you guys like a team update after each chapter or not?


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